Words and Numbers

I like words. They can describe a lot. They can emit emotion. They can describe something amazing or terrible. If put together effectively they can be amazing.

I also like numbers. Numbers can also describe things. They can put order to what may appear disorganized and help us understand the universe in a way that words cannot.

What I don't like is when numbers are used to replace words.

From time to time, people use numbers when a word is the proper tool to use. I was in the drive through at McDonalds to pick up my usual road meal, a Bacon and Egg McMuffin Meal with an orange juice. That's how I ordered it. When I rolled up to the window to pay for my not-so-healthy breakfast. When the cashier confirm my meal before payment she asked my if I had the number three.

In what way does the number 3 describe that meal?

An arbitrary number was assigned to the meal. It was not the 3rd step in a process. It doesn't have 3, 30, 300, or even 3000 calories. If it is consumed with a Number 2 meal, it doesn't give you something with a value of 5. The number three doesn't have any meaningful use other than differentiating it from the other meals on the menu. However, that's what words are for.

There are a lot of reasons you don't drive an airplane down a freeway. It's not the right tool for the job. So, why has it become acceptable to use numbers in the place of words? There are over four-hundred thousand words in the English language. They can describe nearly every phenomenon humans have ever encountered but some people insist on improperly using numbers to describe things.

There are times when a number is appropriate to use in a description. The Ford Mustang 5.0 is a great example. The number describes the displacement of the engine. The number is used properly. Another good use of a number is Step 3. By using the number you know it occurs between Step 2 and Step 4. The number is used properly.

I realize that some people don't want to think too hard about what they are trying to say but let's move forward and use words and numbers properly. After all there is more than enough words and combinations of words to describe what we want.

Free Stuff

It's not everyday that you get something for free. Earlier this week Apple gave every iTunes account holder a free copy of the new U2 album. First off, I want to say thank-you. I would have bought the album but now I don't have to. I know a lot of other people are grateful because there are a lot of good people in the world.

There is some backlash. 

I can understand if you are not a U2 fan, you probably don't want their new album. However, if you don't want it on your devices, you can remove it. Apple doesn't use personal space in iCloud to store music downloaded from iTunes. There is no cost there to the user. That being said, there are some people who are outright angry that Apple has done this.

This morning on the radio one tweet was read that if a U2 song started playing on one person's iPhone, they were switching to Android. Apple devices are the easiest to use in the world. If you can't figure out how to not have a song play and are willing to switch to another product because of that, I feel sorry for you. You are probably not smart enough to use an Android device. I do believe in choice and that would be your choice. (I tried to find the tweet but since I can't remember the name given on the radio, I was not successful.)

Some people didn't like how the album was delivered. I don't agree that having it available in  iCloud for everyone is creepy but some people seem to think it is. Data and updates are pushed to devices and computers all the time. New icons appear on my work computer's desktop without any input from me. So, an icon to download music isn't so bad in my mind. Maybe a different deployment would have worked better. The 12 Days of iTunes through a free app worked well last Christmas and nobody would have received music they didn't want.

You can't change the past. I'm sure everyone has learned from this activity and if a company  decides to give away something for free in the future, they will do it even better.

I like free stuff and I appreciate the free album I received from U2 and Apple, as I am sure most people are.

This Whole Ray Rice Thing

When I saw the video of Ray Rice knocking out his fiancee, I had the same reaction as everyone else. I felt sick to my stomach and thought how could he hit anyone like that.

There is never an excuse for domestic violence. Ever.

However, domestic violence is a problem in all parts of the world so there must be something that causes it. I want to make it perfectly clear, I am not an expert on domestic violence or its causes. If you take a couple of steps back and look at the world, maybe we can understand why it is happening. If we can understand it, we can start to rid the world of it. We are not going to rid the world of it tomorrow but we have to move towards that goal and even through it will probably take generations we have to get there.

At the time of the incident, Ray Rice was employed as a professional football player. In a matter of full disclosure, football is my favourite sport but, football is a very violent game. To stop the ball carrier the rules require you to knock them to the ground so a body part other than the palms of the hands and soles of the feet touch the ground. This won't happen with a light tap. At the professional level, players build their strength to near super-human levels. Combined with this strength to either hit the ball carrier or ward off the hit and break the tackle, players must aggressively act on instinct. If you can't do this, you will not be employed as a professional football player for very long.

Professional football players have been playing the game since they were young boys. If you are going to make it to the highest level, it must dominate your life for as long as you can remember. Football players are rewarded for aggressive play. Let's keep this all in mind.

I don't know what was said or done to build up to the point that Ray Rice decided to strike another human in an elevator. Ultimately it doesn't matter. He didn't have the tool in the toolbox to keep his aggression and instinct in check when he wasn't on the football field.

No matter why he did it, he was wrong. Maybe the system let him down and didn't prepare him to deal with these types of situations. I don't have the skill set to fix that but if he had the right tool in the box, there may have been a chance this never would have happened.

There are jobs where we value aggressive instinctive behaviour. However, that behaviour is only appropriate in certain situations and over the long haul, it is very difficult to suppress who you are or have become. So, maybe if we groom people to be aggressive at work or play, we need to do a better job at grooming them to use it only when they should.

I don't think anyone wakes up in the morning as says, "I'm going to smack my woman around today." Nonetheless, it happens and it shouldn't. Domestic violence is everyone's problem. We can't turn our back on it, we have to speak up and deal with it if we know it's happening. We have to be there are help when people are headed down the wrong path. 

These are just some of my ramblings but if we all try to make it a domestic violence free world, we will get closer, and we need to get closer for everyone's sake.

The Haircut

Today I got a haircut. I realize this unto itself is not a big deal. I have always kept my hair short and I probably always will. I went a bit over two months without getting it cut. I also know this is also no big deal. Some people go years without cutting their hair. 

As I was sitting in the barber's chair, I started thinking about the whole experience. Not so much why we get a haircut, that part is obvious, but how it all goes down.

Someone decides they need a haircut so they do one of two things. Either they make an appointment or just walk into a barber shop and sit down. Now many people know their barber very well but this is not always the case. They may be a total stranger and after a thirty second conversation they take some very sharp instruments and start waving them around your head and face.

Let's think about this for a moment. To cut hair, scissors must be sharp. From the corner of your eye to your hairline on the side of year head it usually isn't much more than an inch. So if the barber, who you may not have known for more than a couple of minutes, is clumsy, you could end up with scissors in the eye. Let's be honest here, nobody likes it in the eye.

All this being said, we take this whole thing to be quite normal. Nobody really thinks twice about walking into a barber shop, sitting down, and getting a haircut. We are much more concerned about if it is going to look good than if it is safe. If we want to take it one step further, as men get older, they often start to get their eyebrows trimmed. That's even closer to the eye.

I know barbers know how to safely cut hair and considering the frequency that they complete the task I'm sure their skills are maintained to a high level. However, who has really ever questioned the safety of a haircut? My ear did get cut once, not bad but I sure flinched and there was blood. This was a long time before most of the feeling left my ears. I've heard of people getting nicked while getting a shave but we all do that to ourselves from time to time. However, when you sit in the chair, you are pretty much at the mercy of the barber's skill and have you really done your research?

I don't think this is going to change the world and I don't want it to. It's just an idea that popped into my head as a stranger cut the hair on my head to a much better looking length.